This is exciting. Hopefully better stuff in gaming will come to Mac. Then I could ditch console gaming and get back to PC gaming. 
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Apple CEO Tim Cook Visits Headquarters of Video Game Firm Valve
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Maybe Apple will buy Valve. That would be pretty cool...and send a major shockwave into the game industry.
Either way, Cook visiting Valve can only mean some good things are afoot!
Either way, Cook visiting Valve can only mean some good things are afoot!
I don't think that warrants a visit from the CEO.
A senior software/app team manager with a PR guy would be all you need.
This could be a number of things.
At the top end of the scale is a joint Apple / Valve games console.
At the other end of the complexity scale would be allowing Apple App Store accounts to work on Steam, and Steam accounts to work on Apple's online stores.
What I would be very happy with is a Valve developed and Apple branded games controller for iOS and OS X.
At the top end of the scale is a joint Apple / Valve games console.
At the other end of the complexity scale would be allowing Apple App Store accounts to work on Steam, and Steam accounts to work on Apple's online stores.
What I would be very happy with is a Valve developed and Apple branded games controller for iOS and OS X.
Well, when Apple bought Logic, the top dog in music software, they dropped the PC version like a hot potato.... so you never know...
Still, if they want to own a slice of the pie they need to make sure more games hit their platforms on the day of release - not the odd one or two here and there, often two years later.
Onlive is not available in Norther Europe yet but this is exactly what I intend to do once it (or a similar service) is available in my region.
But does Cook visit every large game developer/prospect for iOS personally? I don't think so. In that case, Eddy Cue or other people might have have paid Valve a visit.
Eddy Cue is the guy for these projects and partnerships usually:
http://www.apple.com/pr/bios/eddy-cue.html
There must be more imho if Cook made the trip. Cook is the guy for the really important, strategic partnerships (large telco carriers, Foxconn...in the past). AAPL is still weak in games (apart from iOS) and has tons of cash. Valve is a large games company with proven digital distribution - and still independent.
Maybe the next iterations of Apple TV and Macs will feature streaming games, a service like Gaikai or OnLive built together with Valve. Or Apple might buy Valve outright, as others commented...
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When I said they were best at high end graphic productions, what I meant was that they can get a high-end game to perform well on the top graphics cards, taking full advantage, while still being compatible and very playable even on the crummiest of graphics cards. Lets not forget that Valve have also not really had a chance to show off any of their latest innovations as they are still using the source engine. IMO if they were to effectively start over with HL3, it would most certainly out perform Crysis, simply because thats what Valve do. They have bigger pockets and a lote more use for their game engine, thus can spend a lote more time refining it.
Either way, it doesn't matter - I was speculating.
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Target market is probably gonna be a mix. Even though Nintendo has the casual/kiddie stigma because compared to other consoles that's how they look, they've always put out a mix of casual/hardcore. It's just some analysts can only think in binary.
I could be wrong but this is the only thing that makes sense to me.
I don't know why Apple would buy Valve, they have no experience doing game design and would not know what to do with it. The only other asset Valve has is Steam, but Apple already has its own distribution platforms which are inseparable from their OS's.
I don't see why they'd integrate Steam into Apple TV when they already have the app store. Integrating Steam would just be fragmenting their ecosystem and giving away control and their 30% cut.
And I doubt Valve is going into iOS, not while iOS is a budget market galore where any big name IP becomes nothing more than a minigame. If they do, their programmers must be bored.
Hmmm. Why would they send the CEO of Apple over, just for this? Such a technical problem is best discussed between Apple and Valve engineers, no need to involve Cook.
There must be more imho, maybe even a Valve buyout by Apple or a joint set-top-box/streaming video game player.
Yeah, but with an Apple money injection, he could do it with a tiny bit more style.
It could be the reason why Steve's yacht is such a big deal today. As far as we know, it could be Gabe's now.
You sir, are absolutely correct.
Tim Cook, the CEO of the biggest company on earth, going out of his way to discuss Gatekeeper with Gabe? Come on now.
It is very much possible that apple could buy valve.....
Why not?
Look at valves view
Windows 8.... It will have an app store and!!! Xbox live for windows!!
Microsoft would love to take steams place on the pc...
And they are going to push it real hard...
Apple does not have a gaming Ecosystem... They want game center on mountain lion but that looks kinda lame and if they could replace that with steam... Well, why not???
Valve doesn't make a lot of games itself... It releases 1 or 2 titles a year
So I don't see that as apple drooling for content...
If I was valve I would consider becoming part of apple.
It is something apple does not have
Tim cook visits you only if he wants something or is pissed off...
Why not?
Look at valves view
Windows 8.... It will have an app store and!!! Xbox live for windows!!
Microsoft would love to take steams place on the pc...
And they are going to push it real hard...
Apple does not have a gaming Ecosystem... They want game center on mountain lion but that looks kinda lame and if they could replace that with steam... Well, why not???
Valve doesn't make a lot of games itself... It releases 1 or 2 titles a year
So I don't see that as apple drooling for content...
If I was valve I would consider becoming part of apple.
It is something apple does not have
Tim cook visits you only if he wants something or is pissed off...
Well of course they aren't going to mind getting hardcore gamers but if they really think they are going to convince hardcore gamers with hardware that isn't even as good as current gaming consoles they are kidding themselves. And I realize that you can get fun games without having the most advanced hardware there, but hardcore gamers are going to want the most advanced hardware and want the best graphics and the ability to do the most complicated games graphics wise. It just doesn't look good marketing wise if you really are aiming at hardcore gamers to have a device that they could buy a current gen, and cheaper, and get better hardware/graphics.
Really since the 64 Nintendo has rightfully gotten a reputation of being a better console if you have a lot of friends over cause it gets good party games. And being a kiddy console. But they don't compete in having the best hardware. And that will not get them the hardcore market. I mean check out where the hardcore games go... not Nintendo. I was disappointed when my mom sent me her Wii (she got it for the fit and decided it wasnt' that good for excercising. Sadly, I agree... I much prefer Dance Dance Revolution for a workout than the Fit). I was all excited to have a more current console (my last one was the PS2, I'm too poor now to justify buying a new console, especially at the prices they are now). I couldn't find any games I wanted for it
. I don't tend to have many parties over and my friends aren't big gamers, even party games. And I don't like the silly crap you can get for solo stuff that seems to come out on Nintendo. Sure you get some of the most popular games, but that's like buying a Mac to play games. You're sure to get the stuff that really sold well but anything that isn't the total popular stuff you're going to lose out on or have to wait a while for it to be ported over to your system.Where are you getting this "not as good as current consoles" stuff from? The Wii U will handle a graphics hog like BF3 at 1080p with consistent, high frame rate just fine. Current consoles can barely run them at 720p.
Until 4k TVs start selling in heavy quantity - which is a decade or more away - there is no compelling reason to worry about anything beyond 1080p.
And that's exactly the crack in the door Apple can exploit.
Until 4k TVs start selling in heavy quantity - which is a decade or more away - there is no compelling reason to worry about anything beyond 1080p.
And that's exactly the crack in the door Apple can exploit.
To be fair to Nintendo, these are just rumors from developers with dev kits. Other game developers stated that the Wii U is comparable or even 1.5x better/faster than 360 or PS3.
(Final Wii U specs will be unveiled at E3 2012 and the most likely release date is November 2012, maybe before that for the Japanese market).
Valve and Apple look like a good complementary fit the more I think about it:
Apple: Lots of cash, weak in desktop (Mac) gaming, strong in mobile games, weak in community features (Game Center)
Valve: Private company *, very strong in desktop gaming, weak/no focus in mobile games, strong in community features.
The only big overlap I see is Valve's digital distribution, where Apple already has iTunes/App Store.
As others pointed out: With Windows8 (own app store) coming soon and new stores from big publishers (like EA with Origin) it might be a good time for Valve to sell itself or at least partner with Apple.
_
* Apple has no history to buy publicly-listed companies where bidding wars with competitors might follow. It's easier to buy Valve quietly from its owners should they be ready to sell. Well, at least it was until this rumor broke...
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Gatekeeper would only block Steam on its most strict setting, which isn't the default.
Ok, this is maybe going a bit extreme but a thought:
- Steam is looking to broaden themselves beyond just selling games in their store. There has been rumours about a "Steambox".
- Cloud is the (next) big thing right? OnLive and Gaikai are both making progress in bringing serious cloud gaming. What it lacks though is a really big player.
- Apple is one of the major players in cloud technology at the moment, and have good hardware to run it - iPhone, iPad, AppleTV and that mysterious "iTV".
So maybe, Steam are looking to broaden themselves into cloud gaming and looking to Apple for support.
This might explain Apples reluctance to let OnLives cloud gaming app onto App Store.
Just brainstorming but would be very cool
- Steam is looking to broaden themselves beyond just selling games in their store. There has been rumours about a "Steambox".
- Cloud is the (next) big thing right? OnLive and Gaikai are both making progress in bringing serious cloud gaming. What it lacks though is a really big player.
- Apple is one of the major players in cloud technology at the moment, and have good hardware to run it - iPhone, iPad, AppleTV and that mysterious "iTV".
So maybe, Steam are looking to broaden themselves into cloud gaming and looking to Apple for support.
This might explain Apples reluctance to let OnLives cloud gaming app onto App Store.
Just brainstorming but would be very cool
Gatekeeper has its strictest setting on by default in Mountain Lion.
https://www.macrumors.com/2012/02/1...apps-to-mac-app-store-signed-apps-by-default/